I had a European exchange student who lived with me for a short while. One of her culture shocks was that, I didn't care much about my birthday. It's not in a sad way either; I just go on my day like a normal day, which is pretty common here.
No cakes, no gifts (sometimes. but if not, that's fine as well), no party – you get the point. If I do want to celebrate, I'll just buy myself a burger and a random candle for fun, stuff like that. it is all my choice btw.
This culture shock went on whenever her classmates had a birthday. They were either like, 'cool, thanks,' didn't care, or were shy and tried to ignore that they had a birthday at all. I'm not saying that none of us celebrate; it's just very common for us to not celebrate it as well.
I don't know—she was genuinely surprised about it. So from my perspective, birthdays are a huge deal in her hometown.
BUT WHO COULD LOVE ME? I AM OUT OF MY MIND // IVAN & TILL
pinterest // VIVINOS Alien Stage, "ROUND 6" (via youtube) // Anne Sexton Complete Poems of Anne Sexton, "The Papa and Mama Dance" // Fall Out Boy Hum Hallelujah // VIVINOS Alien Stage, "ROUND 6" (via youtube) // Ernest Hemingway The Garden of Eden // Florence + the Machine Grace // Elliot Wake Black Iris // The National Daughters of the Soho Riots // VIVINOS Alien Stage, "ROUND 6" (via youtube) // Mitski I Guess // Adam Silvera They Both Die at the End // Lorde Writer in the Dark // VIVINOS Alien Stage, "ROUND 6" (via youtube) // Margaret Atwood Cat's Eye // Chris Abani Dog Woman // VIVINOS Alien Stage, "ROUND 6" (via youtube) // Warsan Shire Souvenir, "Our Men Do Not Belong to Us" // VIVINOS Alien Stage, "ROUND 6" (via youtube) // Louise Glück Faithful and Virtuous Night
Fun fact: I found out David tennant has a podcast with a guest that cycles out each episode (it’s very good, you should go listen) and one of them has Neil in it!
You can yell at me if this is old news now but this little bit about “have a nice doomsday” and episode threes cold open is so… agh, I love it
(hearing about Neil’s writing process in general is also incredibly neat)